My journey into Pre-Maint.

[LC-Laur]

Well, here I am. Pre-maintenence. This is the best move I could have possibly made for myself! I started low carbing it on Sept. 6, 2003 and have remained between 25-35 carbs most of this time, with a few trips back into Induction and then back to OWL. Well, despite all that my weight has held in the lower/mid 140's for a loooong time now - almost a year! Well, I finally asked myself why the hell I'm still in Induction and OWL when my body is just not willing to let go of much more??? I promised myself I'd add fruit and whole grains back "eventually" all throughout my journey and I was finally ready to take that plunge about 2 weeks ago. I did it and so far my weight has stayed within' the same 2 pounds - so no going up! I've been eating anywhere from 60-100 net carbs every day and getting between 20-35 grams of fiber. I've also stuck around 1400 calories. I feel great, my diet is much more varied now and I can't stress how great it feels to have my fruit back! Oh, how I've missed thee!! I eat pretty much any fruit I want, although I'm not really an apple, orange or banana fan - so I just don't eat those cause I don't want to... Lots of tropical fruit though, I'm a huge mango and pineapple fan!! I also LOVE dried fruit (apricots, raisins, cranberries, cherries, whatever!). Grain wise I usually eat about 1 and once and awhile 2 grains daily - I use low carb bread and tortillas instead of whole wheat because they have more fiber, but I use other whole wheat bread type products like pitas and the such. I also use bulgar, couscous, polenta and whole oats. Like I said, I have not experienced any negative side effects. Exercise wise I workout 4 times per week, a combination of running, weight lifting, pilates, crunches and kickboxing (I use a lot of workout DVD's in addition to my treadmill).

Some personal info about me - my name is Lauren and I'm 23 (almost 24 :D ). I work at a university as a clerk for the time being while my DH finishes his masters degree. I do have a degree in journalism, but don't work in an area where my career can exactly take off the ground......

Well, hope to meet some others in my phase - feel free to stop by my journal to see what's going on!

[Enomarb]

Hi Lauren-
Welcome. This thread tends to be a very slow place, so don't take it personally.
Congrats on your success. It sounds like you made a good decision to accept where you are and enjoy it!
E

[besoge]

I'm in OWl right now and will be moving into pre-maintanence soon, my question for you is did u just jump from those 25-35 carbs to 60-100? or did u incremently add them in by 10 per week? ex: week one= 45, week 2=55 ect...

[LC-Laur]

I added by about 10 per week, give or take a few. It worked out well, I actually just naturally stopped at 60-100 net carbs daily (and I rarely hit 100). For all I know I could eat more carbs/day and be ok, but no real desire too - maybe when fruit season hits hard and heavy this summer I'll be singing a different tune. :lol:

[besoge]

that's awsome, good for you :) I'm going to do OWL for another week or two then move into pre-maintanence. I really dont see the need for upping to over 100 carbs, my tastes are so different now that it's just unnecessary. I, like you also excersize alot. I'm at 35 per day right now. I'll probably do OWL till around 45 or 50 depending on how i feel then move to phase 3. Do you count carbs religiously or just guestimate? I know personally i'll probably count when having a whole grain or something but just keep it to a minimum with other things.

[LC-Laur]

I count very religiously! As I've mentioned in other posts, I'm the type of person who needs A LOT of structure of I begin to lose ground. Check out My P.L.A.N for an idea of what I eat day to day (although, this last week is kinda a bad example since I was sick and ate a lot of crap I shouldn't have :blush: ). If you go back to last week, you'll get an idea of what my normal diet is like. :thup:

[Kristine]

Hey Lauren! Glad you decided to let go and go for maintenance. :thup: I stopped by your gallery, and heck, at 5'9" and 142 you don't have any more weight to lose. ;) You look great!

I hear you on the 'need for structure' thing. I'm just impulsive and disorganized. If I'm not paying attention to my good habits (not just food related), they go down the drain.

Have fun!

[WendyOH]

I need a lot of structure too with my WOE. I haven't yet learned how to listen to my body to give it what it needs. It sounds like you have a wide variety of healthy food options available to you. Congratulations on your success!

[LC-Laur]

Thanks ya guys! :blush: